


summer sleeps

by transsalfisher



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mentions of Auguste, Mentions of Nicaise, Nightmares, Nostalgia, if there are a bunch of typos let me live it’s almost 3 am, it may potentially be triggering if you squint, kinda??, nothing explicit or in depth at all, there’s somebody implied regent grossness in there but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 16:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14168781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transsalfisher/pseuds/transsalfisher
Summary: It’s still in the room, a few candles burning and the air from the open window blowing in the summer winds of Vere. The palace is quiet, calm. It begins to sprinkle outside, the start of one of many storms that come with the season. Damen snores peacefully next to Laurent, face pressed into the side of his chest as Laurent lays on his back, fighting the monster he was stuck with in his dreams.





	summer sleeps

The nightmares come on suddenly. Well, not too suddenly. They’re something Laurent has dealt with most of his life. They’re something he’s accustomed himself to. They leave for months at a time and for weeks on end Laurent is finally able to get a decent amount of sleep each night. Then, suddenly, they start again. Not bad at first. Enough to leave Laurent shaking in the morning, but not too terrible. Then they worsen and Laurent is tossing and turning and waking up every hour in a cold sweat, unaware of his surroundings. Then they just get even worse and Laurent avoids sleep as much as he can without making himself ill.

The worst part about the nightmares is when they leave, giving Laurent a false sense of hope that maybe they’re gone for good. They’ve never been gone for good and every time they resurface Laurent feels like a fool for even thinking that they might have left. He just wishes he knew what caused them to happen. What was it that made it all so systematic? Why did they decide to leave in the first place?

He’s tried most, if not, everything. Nightly routines, oils, soaks in the bath, meditation, sleeping medication from Paschal. They work for a few nights, maybe even weeks. Then Laurent’s subconscious finds a way to twist around it all and leave him awake. 

They haven’t been this bad in a while. Not since his early teen years. They get this bad every now and then, but they’re typically very spaced out.

It’s still in the room, a few candles burning and the air from the open window blowing in the summer winds of Vere. The palace is quiet, calm. It begins to sprinkle outside, the start of one of many storms that come with the season. Damen snores peacefully next to Laurent, face pressed into the side of his chest as Laurent lays on his back, fighting the monster he was stuck with in his dreams. 

It’s Laurent’s frantic kicking and thrashing that finally wakes Damen. He rises with a start, leaving a few goosebumps on his skin. He glances to the window. It’s too dark and cloudy outside to tell what time it is. He imagines some time late in the night. His mind is hazy and for a good few moments he doesn’t realize the stress that’s emitting from Laurent’s sleeping figure next to him. Damen always sleeps deeper in the summer.

Damen sits up and gently shifts closer to Laurent. He reaches down, strokes through his blonde locks, and presses a kiss to his forehead. Laurent lets out an audible whine in his sleep and Damen frowns. He’s never been good at waking Laurent up from nightmares. Typically, Laurent wakes himself up from his nightmares before Damen even stirs.

“Laurent,” he says, gently but loudly enough to wake him.

Laurent squirms, his legs beginning to tangle in the sheets on the bed, leaving him in a frenzy. Damen frowns and he feels a sharp stab at his heart. It isn’t the first time he’s seen Laurent like this and he knows it won’t be the last. Still, it hurts him to see him like this.

“Laurent.” He says again. Nothing

Slowly, he reaches down and puts a hand on Laurent’s shoulder. Gently, a touch that’s meant to be grounding. His hand is on Laurent’s shoulder for what feels like less than a second before Laurent’s blue eyes fly open and he recoils away from Damen.

His chest rises and falls quickly as he pushes himself up into a sitting position, keeping an arm out to protect himself. His hair is a mess, his entire body is shaking, and Damen hates that he looks so afraid. He can’t imagine what it must be like to wake up like that, in such a state of pure terror and panic.

“Laurent,” he says gently. “It’s me, Damen. Damanois.”

Laurent shakes his head, legs still tangled in the sheets, keeping him in a panic. He’s trapped, if he tries to run he’s just going to fall. He starts to pull his knees to his chest, keeping his arm braced out towards him.

Damen reaches our gently and presses his hand to Laurent’s. Laurent visibly tenses but stays where he is. Damen takes Laurent’s hand in a grip that’s easy enough to break away from should he decide he’s unsafe. Slowly he guides his hand to the cuff on his wrist, letting Laurent’s trembling fingers feel the metal there.

“It’s me, Laurent. It’s only me. Damen.” He says slowly, gently. “It’s only us, you’re safe here. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

Slowly Laurent wraps his hand around Damen’s wrist, holding onto the cuff so tightly that his knuckles turn white. Damen watches patiently as Laurent grounds himself, brings himself back down to earth. Damen’s fingers gently touch Laurent’s pale wrist.

“Is it okay if I come closer?” Damen asks.

Laurent tears his gaze away from the cuff on Damen’s wrist up to his face. He’s on his way back, but it’s difficult. Damen understands. He stares at him in silence for a moment before slowly nodding, watching his every move.

Damen shifts towards Laurent as if he’s approaching a hurt animal, slowly and carefully.

“Do you want me to untangle you from the sheets, dear?” Damen asks gently and Laurent nods almost immediately.

Damen reaches down and slowly starts to remove the silk sheets from around his lover’s legs. It’s not too bad, but he can understand why it frightened Laurent. As he’s separating the sheets from Laurent’s legs, Damen hears him swallow and take a shaky breath.

“When you’re done,” Laurent starts slowly, processing his own words as they come out. “Come be close to me.”

“Of course.” Damen answers.

He gently disregards the sheets to the end of the bed. It’s getting to be too hot for them anyways. He shifts close to Laurent, their hips brushing against each other. Laurent inhales again, slowly, shakily. He holds it for a beat, then exhales. He repeats the process. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale, hold—

Laurent presses his face into his trembling hands, his hair cascading down around his face, creating a blonde curtain around him. He caves in on himself, still trying so desperately to control his breathing.

“Laurent?”

He nods, indicating he heard Damen.

“May I hold you?”

Laurent thinks for a moment then nods quickly, swallowing hard. Damen shifts some to get into a more comfortable position. He gently wraps his arms around Laurent then pulls him into his lap, letting him hide his face in his chest.

They sit in silence. The rain starts to come down harder and they can hear one of the candles faintly sizzle out, drowned by wax. Laurent keeps close to Damen in a tight ball, almost afraid to leave the position. Damen leans back against the headboard of the large bed and feels Laurent’s body relax some.

“I..” Laurent clears his throat. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

His voice is trembling.

“I’ve seen it before, you don’t need to apologize.” Damen reassures. “It happens.”

“It’s just…” Laurent’s voice cracks some and he stops speaking, just shakes his head.

“Laurent,” Damen soothes, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “My love, my sun, my moon, and my stars. My everything. You’re allowed to show weakness around me. You don’t need to feel guilty about showing weakness around me. You’re safe here, lover. You’re always going to be safe with me.”

Laurent is quiet, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Damen reaches up and gently strokes through his hair. He feels Laurent’s body relax under his touch. He presses soft kisses to the crown of his head. Laurent looks up at him, his blue eyes glassy. He looks exhausted.

“Do you want me to go get you some water?” He asks softly.

“No,” Laurent says, shaking his head. “I’m not going to make you go down to the kitchen in the middle of the night.”

“I can have one of the guards get us some.”

Laurent shakes his head, grabbing one of Damen’s hands. “I’m fine just..”

There’s a heavy silence. Thunder rumbles outside their window and the wind has picked up sense Damen last payed attention. It’s supposed to be a bad storm, bad enough to barricade the horses in their stables and to cancel what business they might have had the next few days.

“Don’t leave.”

Damen is a little startled by the words that come from Laurent’s mouth. He knows Laurent has said it before without directly saying, “Don’t leave.” He knows Laurent has expressed it through different wording. He’s just never heard him say it so upfront.

“I’m not going anywhere, Laurent,” Damen says gently. He means it. “Not unless you want me to. Even then, you’re going to have to do some convincing to get me to leave.”

He feels Laurent smile slightly as he leans into him. The thunder rumbles again, louder, and the rain starts to come pouring down. Laurent looks over at the open windows and the rain falling in through them. It happens more than either of them would like to admit but it’s too hot to close the windows.

“Summer storms always make me think of Nicaise,” Laurent says quietly, eyes on the window. “When they were bad like this, he would creep into my bed chambers and curl up next to me like a puppy. He was so scared of them.”

Lightning briefly lights up the sky, the light momentarily illuminating the walls of their bed chambers. Laurent squeezes Damen’s hand gently, leaning his head against his chest tiredly.

“I suppose I’m not really one to talk,” Laurent says with a bitter sort of chuckle. “I did the same thing when I was his age, crawling into Auguste’s bed when storms were bad like this.”

He pauses, swallowing as he presses closer to Damen.

“Summer storms make me think of a lot of things.” He says quietly, more to himself than to Damen. “I’m not too sure why.”

Damen looks down at Laurent, still staring so intently out the window at the pouring rain. He pushes some stray hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear. Laurent leans into the touch and lets out a small breath through his nose, a content sort of noise. 

“We’re going to have to close the window soon,” Damen says softly. “We don’t want any tree branches or things of that sort flying into our chambers.”

“I’ll do it in a moment,” Laurent answers easily.

He finally tears his gaze away from the window to look up at Damen. Damen reaches down, gently cupping Laurent’s cheek in his hand, and rubs his thumb across the smooth skin of his cheek bone. 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep again tonight.” Laurent says quietly, almost as if he’s ashamed.

“That’s alright.”

“Would you mind staying up with me? At least for a little while?”

Damen leans down, pressing a quick kiss to Laurent’s lips. Laurent is such a gentle, beautiful soul. He sees improvement in Laurent. He lets himself open up around Damen and show emotions like fear. He knows it’s still hard for him, though. It’s difficult but beautiful watching him become more and more comfortable.

“Of course,” Damen says. “Anything you need.”

**Author's Note:**

> i just had to get that out of my system :’) i need to write more captive prince stuff rip


End file.
